Little Brother
by eaglewing
Summary: Where fate has not been cruel to Squall. Take a look at our hero through Ellone's eyes. A response to Malice's challenge to write a continuation to a chapter in her "What If" series. My tribute to her, as well.


Disclaimer: Mighty Square owns all FF8.

This is just a response to Malice's challenge. Don't shoot me!

Little Brother

By

Eaglewing

It's been three years since he's been gone. I still see him on the weekends and on holidays. When he can make it, that is. It seems as the years go by, we see less and less of my little brother. Aunt Raine can't help but complain, but there's little she can do. He's just been busy. His missions take him all over the world and the stories he's told me of everything he's done or will be doing makes me wonder how he makes time for us at all. 

The times when he can't make it back, I see that haunted look in Raine's eyes. She'll just look out of the window as if hoping he'll just miraculously turn up, somehow. I know the question that plagues her when he's not around. I know, because I ask it a lot, too. What if he doesn't come back? What if one day he gets hurt, killed or worse, just disappears? To not know whether he was dead or alive, to wait a lifetime for an answer that may not come, I don't know if I could bear that. Or if Raine or Laguna could live with that either.

But this weekend, he's coming back. It's Saturday morning, and I'm waiting by the door. Laguna's pretending to be busy, inspecting the white flowers Raine keeps in the vases around the tavern. Raine's just smiling, watching him from behind the bar where she's sitting. And then the door opens.

Squall's standing there, dressed in his usual get-up. I can't get over teasing him about his clothes. Seems Balamb's done something to his dress sense, what with his getting attached to a beat-up leather jacket with this huge, furry collar, and wearing so many belts I wonder how his pants hold up. It wasn't that which freaked my mother. It was the leather pants that did it, not to mention the eyeliner and yes, the earring. Raine and Laguna just stood gawking before she bawled, "What have they done to you?" With time, they got used to it. Today, it doesn't mean anything at all as Laguna goes up to squeeze the life out of him with his trademark bear hugs, Raine following close behind.

"Whoa, let me breathe, will ya?" Squall's smiling as he gives Raine a kiss and then moves over to me.

"Hi, little brother." I put out my hand to him.

"Hi, Sis." He takes my hand and grasps it tight, then lets go as he gives me a hug.

"Uh, Mom, Dad, Sis, I have someone I want you to meet." He flashes me a quick grin as he takes this girl's hand, leading her into the tavern. 

The first thought that crosses my mind, is that she's so....small.

"Selphie, I'd like you to meet my family."

"Hi, everyone!" I am face to face with this really petite person. Selphie's pretty, I have to say, but not at all what I'd expected. She's got hair a curious mix of strawberry blonde and gold and her dress is a bright lemon yellow and so short it barely covers her bum. Next to Squall, she looks almost surreal. He's all monochromatic in black and white while she's a pure burst of colour and energy. Mom and Dad are, again, speechless.

"It's so great to meet all of you! Squall's told me so much about Winhill and his great family!"

She ends up chattering endlessly with Raine and Laguna just nodding as they wait for a chance to get a word in.

"Umm, how, exactly did you two meet?" Laguna's scratching his head as she pauses for a breather.

"Well," She turns to beam at Squall, who astonishingly, beams right back. "We met during our SeeD exam at Dollet. He dived in and saved me when I just missed the boat as I leaped. We didn't become an item till much later."

"Aah." Raine's winking at Laguna. "Why don't I get breakfast all laid out?"

As Selphie's volunteered to help her, I get the chance to have some private time with Squall as he carries his stuff to his room. We drop off Selphie's bag in the spare room and finally, it's just me and my brother. 

"So, how long has this been going on?" I waggle an eyebrow at him as he laughs.

"A couple of months."

"Aah."

"I know what you're thinking. That she wouldn't be my type."

"No offense, but yeah. She seems like a great girl, though."

"She is."

"But how, exactly did you two start, err, going out?"

He goes quiet as he lies on his back, eyes to the ceiling.

"I was seeing someone else at first. Problem was, she was a client, and, let's just say things got messy. Who ever said don't mix business with pleasure was right."

He paused, then sighed.

"Rinoa was beautiful. Really outgoing, loved people. A lot like Selphie, actually, but a bit more toned down. After the job with her was over, she couldn't take the fact we couldn't spend as much time with each other. She's always been scared of being alone; she needed someone to be there with her 24/7. No matter how I tried, I couldn't be there enough for her. So we split. Last I heard, she was dating a guy in a rebel faction."

He stops as he spies something hanging from the ceiling.

"Hey, isn't that…" He reaches up to touch it. 

"Yup." I smile as he looks over the wreath he made for me that long ago night. He's fingering it, smiling as he touches the dried petals which still give off a soft, yet lingering scent.

"You haven't finished your story, Squall. About Selphie."

"Oh, right." He lets go off the wreath, almost reluctantly.

"We were sent on a lot of a missions together. So we've had plenty of time to talk. Alright, maybe she did most of the talking. That didn't matter. What mattered to me, was how strong she was. She was really independent. For the first time, I met someone who didn't have to lean on me all the time. I didn't have to be a hero, pretend to be anyone I'm not. She accepted me for who I am, saw me for what I was. And loved me just the same."

"Kinda like, unconditionally?"

"Yeah."

Like we'll always love you, Squall. My little brother's all grown up. Found someone to love, and someone to love him. Sure, she's not royalty but from what I can see, she makes him feel like a king. And that's all that really matters.

"C'mon, Sis. I'm staaar-ving! Sure miss Mom's cooking."

He pulls me off the bed as we head out the door.

"And, oh yeah..." He turns and looks at me, seriously.

"I missed you too, Elle."

"Yeah, little brother. I missed you too."

As he dashes off down the stairs, I realize I've seen a difference in my brother. He seems a lot less uptight, less reserved than he had been in the past few years. I guess love can do that to a person. In my opinion though, he's got all the love in the world waiting right here, at home.


End file.
